While most mattress manufacturers now make their beds
flameproof, Strobel Mattresses will remain toxin free until the final deadline,
July 1 2007. After that we will
offer toxin-free beds with your MD's or Chiropractor's prescription. The
prescription also saves you the sales tax, makes the purchase deductible, and
you can use your health savings account. (You can also use
a prescription now for the same advantages.)

New
Government Risk Assessment proves conclusively that flameproof mattresses
contain acutely toxic and cancer causing chemicals. It also proves conclusively,
that these chemicals leach through our sheets and are absorbed by our bodies.
This is fact!

The
only question remaining is how much poison will we really absorb, and is this
safe for everyone?

By
assuming, without data, that we will absorb only 2/1,000’s per hour of the
chemical that has leached through our mattress and is in contact with our
bodies,
the government says we will absorb a daily dose of .802 mg Antimony, .081 mg
Boric Acid, .073 mg DBDPO, every day for the rest of
our lives.

The
U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) internal report concludes this
amount of poison absorption is safe for everyone, except children under age five, who they
excluded from their risk assessment
by assuming all these children will be protected by a vinyl sheet over their
mattresses, due to bedwetting problems. Other research proves Antimony leaches
through vinyl on mattresses and is linked to SIDS. Crib and youth mattresses
must also be flameproof under the law.

Are You Sleeping In Boric Acid Roach Killer
Yet?

New Law Requires you
sleep in Boric Acid plus Antimony for your one in one million mattress fire risk

The
independent review, required by law, complained repeatedly the CPSC assumptions
of safe levels of toxin absorptions do not agree with other agencies. The EPA
safe level for Antimony is 5,750 times less than the CPSC assumption. If you use
the EPA number in CPSC safety factor calculations it proves mattress toxic by
27.5 times.

The
innerspring mattress industry went to the CPSC and asked for and pushed for this
law. While publicly saying they want to save lives the past president of the
number two mattress maker was quoted on the issue: “The industry’s base will be
higher. People will pay more for bedding. In the final analysis, it will be a
benefit.” “He also predicted the addition of fire-resistant materials would
boost the industry’s flagship brands because it would reduce the price gap
between promotional models and the beginning of the flagship lines.” It will
hurt small business, help big business, and they will make more money.

All
new mattresses sold in California and over half and growing sold nationwide
contain toxins to meet the law. There are no labeling requirements of the
chemicals in beds. Mattress makers are under no obligation to tell the
truth. They all claim they don’t use chemicals or say their systems are
nontoxic. The CPSC Table 1 of chemicals used proves these statements wrong.
There are no chemical free and safe systems.

There
can be two pounds of poison in the surface of your mattress. All the Boric Acid
systems also contain Antimony. Other systems include Formaldehyde, Silicon, or
Ammonium Polyphosphate, but these were not studied. The CPSC did prove Ammonium
Polyphosphate leaches from mattresses in large quantities. It is doubtful our
children absorbing this fertilizer will grow any better.

Quote
from College Chemistry Textbook: “Antimony resembles Arsenic very closely, the
difference in its behavior being almost entirely accounted for by the fact that
antimony is slightly more metallic.” Antimony is a heavy metal like Lead and
Mercury. Quotes from the CDC on Antimony: “Failure to conceive, an increase in
the number of spontaneous abortions, may cause heart to beat irregularly or
stop. Chronic Exposure: Prolonged or repeated exposure may damage the liver and
the heart muscle." "Antimony tends to accumulate in the liver and
gastrointestinal tract.” The CDC cannot determine a safe level of Antimony
exposure because: “At the lowest exposure levels tested, the adversity of the
effects was considered to be serious.” When pressed by the reviewer on cancer
risks of Antimony, even the CPSC admits: “The cancer effects are cumulative.
Every exposure contributes to the overall lifetime risk of developing cancer.”

Over
a pound of Boric Acid exists as loose dust simply mixed with cotton fibers in
flameproof mattresses. It is a known respiratory irritant, also used as Roach
Killer, is a known reproductive and developmental toxin, “Demonstrated injury to
the gonads and to the developing fetus.” “High prenatal mortality. Neonatal
children are unusually susceptible.” One human chronic exposure study showed
reduced sexual activity and sperm counts. There are already 6,463 U.S. cases of
Boric Acid poisoning each year.

DBDPO, Deca, is in the family of PBDE’s being found in women’s breast milk, is
known to bioaccumulate, and is linked to cancer.

The
CPSC hopes to save up to 270 people annually after all existing mattresses are
replaced. With 300 million people in the U.S. this puts you mattress fire risk
at less than one in one million. The CPSC is passing another law for upholstered
furniture, and still another for our top of the bed items including: mattress
pads, comforters, bedspreads, and pillows, which will require the same
chemicals.

Mark
Strobel, a mattress manufacturer, has led the fight against this law. He visited
the California capitol and lobbied against the state law. He put up the website
and started the group People For Clean Beds, and generated 800 public and doctor
comments sent to the CPSC against the national law, and got some news for the
issue including the Washington Post, where the number two mattress maker admitted using chemicals
including Boric Acid.

Doctor comments include: “I know many chemically sensitive people who do not
tolerate treated mattresses. And how many are intolerant who don't know why they
can't sleep or feel bad?”Lawrence A. Plumlee, MD, “After
doing my own literature research it is quite incredible that law makers are
willing to risk the health of thousands [hundreds of millions] of people.
According to available scientific data it is NOT clear whether the levels of
chemicals one is exposed to on a chronic basis by sleeping on treated mattresses
is safe, especially for children and pregnant women. I have yet to find a single
scientific study that supports the use of these chemical in mattresses and
labels them as "safe". Margot Mayer-Proschel, PhD [Medical School
Professor and researcher in neurotoxicology], “It is my personal
opinion, as a Physician, that, if we have doubts regarding the effects of any
particular substances to human body, we cannot put anybody in that particular
risk, this is ethically unacceptable.”Jesus R. Marante, MD

The
new risk in our modern world is our exposure to toxic substances. The National
Safety Council says 17,550 people die each year from “Accidental poisoning by
and exposure to noxious substances," this number now exceeds deaths in car
accidents.

Only
38 days after completion of their flawed internal risk assessment, CPSC
Commissioners voted 3-0 to enact the national law on 2-16-06. Mattresses must
withstand a blowtorch open flame two feet wide for 70 seconds and not ignite for
30 minutes, which requires a lot of chemical. This is the first major rule, one
that impacts the economy by more than 100 million dollars annually, ever passed
in the agency’s history. Indeed, it will cost consumers over 1 billion annually.
It’s no wonder the innerspring mattress industry pushed for this law. It is
fully effective 7-1-07, but already over half and growing of new mattresses
contain toxins. There are no labeling requirements, and many manufacturers make
no claims of their beds being fireproof. Thus, it is impossible to know if you
are getting a clean bed.

Strobel has many Patents and offers a full line of great
mattresses, including crib size, and adjustable beds, plus pads and pillows.
Many mattresses include his Patented “Lever Support System” which conforms to
the shape of the spine giving Proven Best Back Support, 90% Less Tossing and
Turning, and Clinically Proven Better Sleep. Call Strobel at 800-457-6442 for a
free information package.

“As with
any risk assessment, there are assumptions, limitations, and sources of
uncertainty. … it should be noted that percutaneous [skin] absorption data
were not available for antimony.” P 40. They assume skin absorption for
Antimony to be .002, 2/1,000’s, and .00009, 9/100,000’s Boric Acid, per hour of
the chemical that has leached through the mattress and is in contact with our
bodies. Table 8, p 27.

Mattress
Industry Quote: “The
industry’s base will be higher,” he told me. “People will pay more for bedding.
In the final analysis, it will be a benefit.” “He also predicted the addition
of fire-resistant materials would boost the industry’s flagship brands because
it would reduce the price gap between promotional models and the beginning of
the flagship lines.” 3-1-06